Mood disorders

Scientists from the Canadian Center for Narcotics and Mental Health at the University of Toronto have found that prolonged depression can cause serious brain changes. The results of their research were published in the journal "The Lancet Psychiatry".

Taking part in even a small amount of exercise each week can significantly reduce the chance of suffering symptoms, researchers showed.

In the largest ever study of its kind, analysis involving more than 30,000 adults revealed 12 per cent of depression cases could have been prevented by a small amount of regular exercise.

Mental health problems are the second public health problem of the Serb population after cardiovascular disease, the Danas newspaper reported, the day before the World Health Day on 10 October.

People searching for "depression" on Google will soon be prompted to take a questionnaire to assess if they may be suffering from the illness.

The search giant has partnered with the US National Alliance on Mental Illness (Nami) to roll out the project which is currently only for US users.

More than half a million Greeks are estimated to have been diagnosed with depression, according to experts at the 2nd Mental Health Conference, which began on Thursday at the Zappeion Hall in Athens.

Doctors in the Netherlands allowed a former victim of child sex abuse to end her life because she could not live with her mental suffering.

The woman, who was in her twenties, suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder that was resistant to treatment after being sexually abused for more than 10 years, as Daily Mail reports.

A private doctor recommended that the German pilot who crashed a Germanwings jet into the Alps last year should be treated in a psychiatric hospital two weeks before the disaster, French investigators said March 13.

I’ve come to talk with you again… When Simon and Garfunkel wrote this song, I guess depression was not so common.

By Paschos Mandravelis